I was wondering what was THE magician with which you would like to spend an evening talking magic?
Obviously, you must choose a magician that is still alive.
Personally I would choose Eugene Burger.
And you?

As a hobbyist who rarely performs, I would feel too out of my element to be discussing magic with a lifelong performer. I enjoy watching magic and experimenting with it. I enjoy card magic the most and work on it far more than anything else. With my selected guru, I would enjoy discussing a broad spectrum of magic ideas and would like to hear stories of famous magicians and events in our field. I enjoy magic books immensely so someone familiar with them would be a plus. I would choose our own Chief Genii - Richard Kaufman.

Though we are only a few hours apart, I've never seen him in person. I am looking forward to the Genii Bash in October so that I will finally get to meet him.

The experiences you have had (all those masters you have worked with or interviewed) make you rather unique. I'm not very interesting either, especially in unfamiliar company, so you may still be impressive to me.

I have been fortunate to spend many days and nights with Richard talking about many things. I highly recommend it.

I spent a week sharing a room with Max Maven some years ago. We talked about many things, including magic. I highly recommend it. (One of those nights included Mike Caveney in the room: I just listened.)

There are a lot of people--some well-known, some not--that I have been very lucky to spend some time with that I would love to spend much more time with. But my "magic fantasy" night would be with Ricky Jay. And I would let him do all the talking.

A few months ago while flipping through the channels, I saw Ricky Jay on television. While watching, I Googled Ricky Jay Unit and one of the first few listings was what may well be the scariest magic related site - It offered Ricky Jay nude pictures and naked scenes. I will leave it to others to check that out.

Elusive, enigmatic Tony Picasso performs for selects groups in hidden quarters of the Magic Castle; for those who can handle the truth, he's the thinking person's choice here. Picasso has the most trenchant insights on the divide between good magic and bad magic. Can sometimes be found holding court with other Castle elites at surrounding eateries; approach with caution.

But I'd quickly add Juan Tamariz, Richard Turner and John Carney if I'm allowed to make it a panel of four.

And now I have to spend the rest of my life apologizing profusely to all of those others I was unable to include because I was only allowed four spots and I really don't mean to imply anything by virtue of their exclusion.